Continued from yesterday…
We have discovered that the Great Commission is meant to be the daily focus of all disciples of Jesus. It is intended to be our primary function, as true followers of our Lord. As Christians, we are to set our minds and hearts upon fulfilling this commission “as we are going” about our daily lives.
This brings us to the second part of the Great Commission – the making disciples part. “Making disciples” is the definition of a disciple’s purpose and passion in each and every day. The great purpose as disciples of Jesus is to make other disciples of Jesus. It is here that we come to the very depths of what it means to embrace true Christianity. Jesus did not commission His disciples to go and make followers, or believers, or church attenders, or good moral people, or religious people, or sympathizers, or extremists, or perfectionists, or even Christians. His goal, and the disciples’ specific task, was to go and make disciples. Jesus had something very specific in mind. After their extensive training, so also did Jesus’ first disciples. The Great Commission, the highest specific goal and task of disciples of Jesus, was to go and make other disciples. It is reasonable to conclude that the disciples knew what they were seeking to accomplish. They were trained to know. These disciples understood that they were to go and make other disciples – and after going and making other disciples, that same commission would pass on to the newly-made disciples, and they would go and make still more disciples, and so on…
This is what The Church is supposed to be and do. Disciples of Jesus, going and making other disciples of Jesus, until there are no more disciples to be made. This is the Great Commission. It is the very foundation of The Church’s purpose and work. All other activities and practices, though important, just do not carry the same weight of significance. If the Great Commission is neglected or shortchanged or made secondary or relegated to a lesser place in “church life” or completely ignored altogether, no other activity, function or task can give The Church Her same significance in the Lord’s purpose for His people. Being disciples, and making disciples, is the one great purpose that makes The Church glorious, and the supreme Object of the Lord’s attention and affection.
So in light of this understanding, we must ask ourselves: is the Great Commission being accomplished in our generation of souls? And how will we know if this has been accomplished? How shall we know when another disciple has been made? What is the evidence, the essential proof, that allows a disciple to know that the mission has actually been accomplished as the Lord commanded?
To properly answer these questions we need to gain an understanding of one great and foundational question: Exactly what is a disciple of Jesus? If we are to be true disciples, and if we are to make true disciples, then we must know what one really is. Our first order of business must be to discover and understand what it is to be a disciple of Jesus…
(excerpt from “The Great Missed Understanding” Chapter One)
To be continued…
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